the crisis in k-12 education is a threat to the very fabric of who we are. my mother was a teacher. i respect the profession. we need great teachers, not for want and not mediocre ones. we have to have high standards for our kids. self-esteem comes from achievement. not from lax standards. and we -- we need to give parents a greater choice, particularly poor parents whose kids are trapped in failing neighborhood schools. this is the civil-rights issue of our day. if we do anything less, we can damage generations to joblessness and hopelessness and

life on the government. if we do anything less, we will endanger our global imperative for competitiveness. and if we do anything less, we will tear apart the fabric of who we are and some at the turn toward its entitlement and grievance. mitt romney and paul ryan will rebuild us at home. and it will help us lead abroad. it will provide an answer to the question where does america stand? the challenge is real and the times are hard. but america has met and overcome our challenges before.

whenever you find yourself a doubting us, just think about all those times that america may be impossible seemed inevitable in retrospect. our revolutionary founding act as the greatest military power of the time, a civil war, brother against brother, thousands dead on both sides of the merged in more perfect union. a second founding when inpatient patriots were determined to overcome the birth defect of slavery and the scourge of segregation. a long struggle against communism with the soviets even -- the soviet union's collapse and in the aftermath of 9/11, the willingness to take hard decisions that toward us and prevented the follow on attack that everybody thought preordained.

and on a personal note, and little girl grows up in a jim crow birmingham. the segregated city of the south where her parents cannot take her to a movie theater or to restaurants but they have convinced that even if she cannot have it hamburger at woolworth, she can be the president of the united states if she wanted to be and she becomes the secretary of state. [applause] yes, yes. yes.

yes, america has a way of making the impossible seemed inevitable in retrospect but we know it was never inevitable. it took leadership. and it occurs. and it's a belief that our values. mitt romney and paul ryan have the integrity and the experience and the vision to lead us. they know who we are. they know who we want to be. they know who we are in the world and what we offer. that is why this is a moment of consequence. because it just has to be that the most compassionate country on the face of the earth will continue to be the most powerful and that begins -- beacon for prosperity and the party across the world. god bless you and god bless this extraordinary country. the united states of america.

>> from the state of new mexico, the first hispanic female governor in the history of the united states, please welcome governor susana martinez. . brian butler, president of lgbt democrat of north carolina's discusses a gay and lesbian issues. "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> as c-span covers the conventions this year, here is what some viewers have had to say. >> governor romney has to do two things. number one, explain why obama deserves not to be reelected. the other is to explain why he

deserves to be reelected. as well as giving some ideas of the roots of his values. this is an introduction to america at large. he did a good job. >> it was a fairly good speech. it reintroduced romney to the american public. i will still vote for president obama. >> i watched the convention. i am impressed. i was undecided. now i am decided. in romney supporter. >> i am an obama supporter. romney will have to start all over. record against

what romney has done. there is no comparison. >> president obama needs to finish what he started. >> met rodney did a fabulous job. >> watch coverage. >> howard university posted discussions thursday about the youths vote no. but 2012.

vote -- vote in 2012. they also talked about new state laws requiring voter i.d. and registration requirements. this is about one hour and 45 minutes. thank you. i am going to ask you to do something different. how many of you saw the poll that saul met ronnie but the african-american community was roughly 0? it is very different for republicans. president bush did better than others had done. they usually get somewhere between 6-8% of the boavote. a rousing era has at least one

person on the states that might vote. but assume that it is not quite zero. what would you say you are rising mitt romney for the day? what would you say you wanted to convince mitt romney? >> that is a great question. we have seen so much demagoguery. i think going to michigan and talking about your burst of it, not the answer appeared what they have done is they have really tried to wrestle up this undertones we do not like black people. i say that nicely. it is true.

would make arguments about people living off of government, when you make arguments about people who are waiting on their checks, when you look at statistics, there are more caucasians on public assistance from the government then there are black people. he said half of america is on government handouts. that means you're talking about grandma his getting social security or medicare. you are talking about a disabled person. they make it seem as though every african-american is on some sort of public handouts. that is not true. when i first started doing television she said michele m.

barack benefited from the system. so did mitt romney and they have this whole mantra, "we built benefited from government programs, from government contracts, from the small business administration. back9 fact are the facts and the fact is that this republican party has gone down the wrong path with african- americans. we don't want you to give us more handouts. we want you to help fix our problems. fix k through 12 education. we want to know how you are going to help us when they graduate from college and have mountains of debt. what are you going to do about it? they had the economy for eight years and they wrecked it. they let wall street have their way with the economy. people don't know this, but the student loan debt, they're

cutting it up and selling it all sorts of places. tell them no and put it back in the mail. because there is no way i'm going to be able to pay off some of this debt. one thing is i want a plan and he does not have an answer. for the past three days they've had the media 100% of the time and still haven't presented an answer. so far the only answer is that they don't want the black guy in the white house. if that's all they want, that guy, if you take the black out of it, he's looking out for our interests. he's made sure grandma had her social security check and medicare and that's an issue. they're going to tell you they're cutting it when they're

not cutting it. there is double speak that this party does that is beyond belief. at the end of the day, even if the economy is not going the way it needs to be, when president obama got the keys to this economy, we were at negative g.d.p. professor, i'm going to ask you this question because i think richard is constitutionally having trouble getting his mind into the role as a political nsultant -- but over the past years, what do you think about the conservative, classical conservative or the conservative ideology that you think the

republicans today could try to sell if they really were trying to go after african-american votes? >> well, i think they could do a better job sticking to the classical conservative approach. some government responsibility in business. what we are seeing today is not classical conservative in american politics. this is fairly extreme. for example, "the washington post" publication today to which i referred earlier that had responded in the republican party to the question of why, why very few or no blacks are voting for romney. the response among the republicans, 59% of them is -- said it's because they want to depend on government and want people to take care of their needs. that kind of attitude is not

typical of the traditional republican party. >> what would the traditional republican party have said? >> it would be conservative on government spending but not one in which social issues hemmed such primacy beyond the immediate agenda. you have social issues in the platform. and by the way, platforms historically conform more to what governments do than campaign speeches. historically they end up becoming closer. this platform opposes any kind of social welfare policy beyond the most restrictive kind. it even threatens medicare. it, the platform threatens medicaid particularly by devolving it to the states. all these things that black americans and white americans

know as essential to their lives. i can't tell you what that new conservativism would look like, but it would look closer to something that romney had done as governor than what is going on in the platform today. >> before i get to elroy, does anybody up here have any part of the republican platform or romney's ideas that you think would have resonance in the african-american community? >> prosperity and greatness. >> since elroy is outnumbered, i'm trying to set him up here. i'm going to give him a chance to give one more answer before we go back to the panelists. when we were first leaving school, i know you sent a lot of time with governor engler helping him to develop a program to go after african-american votes. if you were sitting next to governor romney, what would you be telling him? >> thanks for the opportunity. about six years i used to think i was outnumbered but i've grown in faith and i don't think i'm outnumbered. i'm here with my brothers and

friends in christ and so forth. but the answer the brother on health care, i think the president did a wonderful job getting health care done but i tell you what, if my son is coming to me at 26 saying daddy, i want to be on your health care, no. i want that brother out there working. i'm not going to be taking pride in having him on my health care. i want -- don't want him on my health care at 26. i want him out there working, building his own family. and i have had the privilege to engage with the romney campaign.

from a microperspective, i've said look, we've historically had four african-american cabinet positions ofe the last three-point presidency. get us back to four. i'd say if there were a supreme court nominee, give us one. i know you're going to take some heat from it, but let's get another black supreme court candidate. we had a chance to do it it once. a lot of people say well, you have a black person on the supreme court. but he's conservative. and the third thing is -- thing i'd say is we started spending $800 billion under president bush and president obama continued that stimulus package. unemployment was a little under 8% when we started the stimulus package. four years later, unemployment is 8.5%. so that indicates exactly what many of my brothers in the cpc have said to president obama, for various reasons it didn't happen, but if you are doing

stimulus funding let's turn it to detroit and atlanta and old cities, littles do the empowerment zones, target it toward our underserved communities and communities of color. we don't have any initiatives coming out of this administration, no empowerment zones such as you saw from president clinton. we've seen none of that come out of thisstration streags. so i'd say look, if we're going to keep spending, you've got to target some money. that's the same message the congressional black causeous said to the president on the heeled -- heels of president bush's spending. for whatever reason that was never able to happen. catch me on the side and i'll give you my thoughts on that.

i'd also advise, you know, the romney campaign on social issues. look, whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, we got to encourage life, folks. you got to encourage it. you know, there's all kind of issues surrounding, you know, a female not wanting to bring life into the world, but i think the federal government, i think as human beings we ought to be trying to encourage that. maybe there need to be more programs that say, if there's a pregnancy, we will help you, put a social safety net around you, more resources, but let's encourage life. let's not make it easier for that young lady who may be confused, may be tired, let's not make it easier for her to go to planned parenthood and say i

can't deal with it. on the marriage issue -- i think that was the last one the anre is wanting to get in here. i'm going to exert moderator privilege in a second. >> number one, i think with the g.o.p., special nod to my friends and colleagues in the republican party. i'm from south georgia, so working in the georgia assembly have a lot of friends who are republicans. i think we too often make it an adversarial, toxic relationship. that's not how you get your policies through, having a toxic attitude between two parties who govern all people. that's politically dangerous for african-americans to push ourselves into a corner where we can only talk to one group of people. to that note, if i was speaking to mitt romney and the whole republican national committee, i would say the reason why you have zero percent of african- american support is you don't depend on their votes.

there is no political reason for you to necessarily cater to african-americans, so why would you design a platform for people that usually won't vote for you anyway. i would start thinking with the lens of ok, i want to cater to them, which means i actually have to get to know who they are and what we want. if you look at african-americans and say we only want more checks, more dependency on the government, then utch the wrong ideas. on the same take -- token i would say to the democratic party, do not look did, do not take for granted the african- american vote. the challenge will be when those african-americans sit home, that's bust -- just as bad as if they were voting for the other party. i would say to both parties,

look at the african-american vote as independent and do some study and say what are the real ways we can address these concerns without looking at what has always been historically done. look at certain positions in the cabinet and supreme court, that's all fine and well, but i personally would say i don't care what the color of your skin is if you are in the cabinet or on the supreme court, do you look at me as an american and an equal american ond -- and do you take into account who i am? you could be black, white, purple, whatever. but i want you to look at me and say these are americans. not just african-americans but americans in general. and my final point, on the note of conservative values, my frustration with the republican party has been that they align conservative -- conservative values as far as religious, moral values with conservative policies because african- americans by and large are conservative on their views when it comes to a lot of things, but again we aren't necessarily conservative with our policies. they don't market things to our group. they don't resonate with people who look like me. i'm concerned about protecting the life of an unborn child,

but i'm also concerned about the hundreds of brothers being shot in chicago and no one is shaying anything. i'm also concerned over the fact that over the past month there is -- have been so many discussions about shootings here and there but we're more concerned about protecting our right to bear guns. we want to protect the unborn, but when you get here, you're on your own. that troubles me. >> so i just want to put a couple fadgets -- facts on the table from what's been said earlier. when we talk about the cabinet let's keep in mind we have the first nick -- african-american attorney general, the first african-american head of the u.s. trade representative's office negotiating on behalf of

the country all over and an african-american u.n. ambassador, all of which sit in the president's cabinet so we still do have african-americans in the cabinet. the other point as a factual matter, the stimulus package that was passed, went out, $800 billion, a lot went to states and localities to help them plug the budget holes. 21% of african-americans who have a job work for state, federal, or local offices. so when you are keeping state, federal, localities, cities from laying people off, you are keeping black people in those g.s. 14 jobs that we have a problem with. but the black middle class is overindexed in the government sector. i have a question for britney. elroy mention aid second ago -- mentioned a second ago in his first remarks. he began talking about issues around sexual orientation a gording to the gallup poll may 2012, 60% of 18 to 24-year-olds

support gay marriage. do you think that will have an impact on the marriage position? >> it it would depend on what you consider the typical. the african-american community definitely has more conservative values when it comes to things that touch religion and that would have an influence on that that topic has on the yulieski gourriel vote in this election. but with that you have to look at the amount of informed voters we have. as an african-american community are we really going out and the researching who we are voting for? are we really voting for barack obama because he's an african- american man? i think if we asked our counterparts, i think they would say yes and because that of i don't think it will be an issue in the upcoming election. >> anybody else want to get into this asia of whether gay

marriage will be an issue? >> same-sex marriage, it was a hot topic of debate and challenged some of my christian values. coming from a deeply conservative back grourned, raised in georgia, raised up in the church, and going through those debates we have on campus, on brown street at morehouse. constant debate and exchange of ideas, that's what we do at morehouse. i came to the conclusion that there is a difference between my values in the church and civil rights and the issue of having the ability to have insurance policies and tax benefits and those type of things. when you look at it you have to look at it from a civil

perspective, public policy, and i think you should never leave an issue of civil rights or public policy up for public debate. if it was 50 years ago and the issue was african-americans, loving versus virginia, black americans marrying white americans, it was a civil rights issue. we have to be able to distinguish our personal beliefs and choices with public policy. once you make that distinction it's not very hard to understand why you should support same-sex marriage or people's ability to choose. keep your own personal preferences, but understand that we live in a country of diverse and complex people. >> the om challenge with that -- -- many -- the only challenge with that -- >> before we go to that, i want to ask the audience, if you have questions, to go to the microphone. >> the only thought is we have not determined whether same-sex marriage isinate or acquired. no one can validate that so you

can't necessarily put that in the same category as me being a black man. so i appreciate that point and i'm not taking a position on it. i'm just saying it's not substantiated, not dal -- validated. and you are right, it's much like what happened in the 1950's and 1960's on the race issue. again, you are born black. but when you say that's the same as maybe your preference or a choice, it's a splipery -- slippery slope. let's say by -- my brother was living with a woman, and they didn't happen to be married. but if he was living with a man they could get benefits? then you turn around and discriminate.

so it's just a challenge -- >> which rule is that? which rule is that? >> the executive order that the president signed. >> so you're saying heterosexual domestic partners don't get the same benefits as homosexuals do? >> unless they're married. >> i don't know that's true. >> i don't know that that's accurate but let me say this about the point you mentioned earlier. the slippery slope, the right to life, as my friend said here, you stop it once the child is born. i think it's irrelevant whether there is scientific verification or lots of studies. once -- all you have to do is say i understand that we may see things differently, have a different religious perspective but at the end of the day, you should not authorize or allow discrimination.

and there are a lot of circumstances as my friend mentioned here, where people have stood behind religious, moral, other justifications in order to justify bigotry, in order to justify discrimination and i think that living in 2012 particularly as minorities, whatever our individual thoughts and views are on the issue, we should step up and stand up and say we're not going to tolerate discrimination based on what someone else is or does. that's a basic principle and tenet. you want to teach love. you're making a policy argument. i got a son. i hope and pray that he marries a lady. that's just my personal opinion. if he marries a man, i'm not going to love my son any less than i would if he married a

female. i would hope and i would fight to the death for anybody if he discriminated against my son. that's -- this is personal. so i'll -- all i'm saying on this issue is, you know, my grandma used to say, hey, boy, you're just passing through. you're not in this world, -- you're in this world, not of it. i boil it down. the bible makes it real clear on love and i leave it be at that. the bible makes it real clear on that and if you wand to support policy over the bible i respect that. it's not may matter of supporting -- >> hold it one second -- >> richard, then the audience. >> it's not a matter of supporting policy over the bible. if jesus were around he would hang out with the least of these, the crack heads, the people on drugs. beyond that point we can't sit here and talk about -- i love this argument about how the government, we want small

government, they don't want the government in your wallet or pocket but they want it to be in a woman's body. i'm not saying abortion is a good thing. i don't think it is. what you want, but the vice president on the republican party said he wants to cut programs like women, infants, and children, so when she has this baby she is forced to have by this government, she cannot get milk or eggs or cheese. what is she supposed to do? the head start program would be gone. you can't tell her what to do with her body and when she has a child, give her no solutions, no alternatives. >> i don't disagree with that but i try to keep it real simple as a dad. i mean when i was on capitol hill i would get into a big policy debate with you, my friend. >> but it's not a policy! >> i got a daughter. if somebody raped my daughter i honestly don't know how i would

deal with that. i don't know, man. if my daughter wanted to get rid of her child i would not encourage her to. i would try to do everything in my power to bring that child into this world. the yes, though, elroy, is should the government make that decision for your daughter? >> i think the government should create, my person views, create a system where if you are be over 18 years old or 21, that you should consult with an adult or parent or past orr before that decision is made. that's all i'm saying. that's as far as i take it. in terms of whether it's legal or illegal, that's a personal decision -- but it's not a personal decision.

it's a government decision. >> no, i'm giving you my point. i think that should be a personal decision between my daughter and myself. now, this is where you get into the policies. i've had these debates, jamal, we've all worked on capitol hill, been in the executive office. we can be in a policy discussion and where it gets to be a slippery slope is who pays for it? paying taxes, you have people who disagree with it, doctors -- but when you keep it basic and simple, do i think the federal government should tell me as a dad if i wanted my, if my daughter got raped and say i prayed on it, my wife and i and we decided that we didn't want her to bear that for nine months, i don't think the federal government has the right to come into my house and tem me how to raise my daughter. >> so you're pro-choice. >> no, i'm not. i support life. but at the same time i get frustrated as a human being when i look at most planned parenthood agencies, the majority of them are in areas of color.

so that makes it a little bit easier for that child who may not shall fortunate enough to have a dad or mom in the household >> elroy, i -- brittney, i saw you making some -- >> my biggest concern with this whole argument is really the wording of what the policy says, what the platform says. they have this idea of legitimate rape. so you are raped and it's jit, there are some republicans that believe that your body will not let you become pregnant. if it's real rape, you don't become pregnant ant -- and that's why the policy is ok. you can't be a party that wants to pull government back, to let wall street do what it is they want to do and pull back government regulation and at the same breath say they -- they should be able to tell me whether i keep my child or not,

regardless of whether it is rape, incest or causes harm to the moth. -- mother the do i think gay marriage will be an issue in this election? no, i don't. you look at the democratic party and the republican party and you are an african-american person, you cannot tell me the republican party is for you. you can't. i don't believe it. but that's my opinion. i'm entitled to my opinion. >> let's go to anre to start the conversation -- sorry, so let's start here and then go over there and i want to hear your name, you know, any affiliation you want to name and then a question. not a speech. >> morehouse college class of 2009. my question is, um, to anyone on the panel. forgive me if i don't remember everyone's name but primarily as -- for the professor as a political skineivity and to my

republican colleague, mr. sailor, sorry. do you guys believe that there is a way for african-americans as a scuent -- smuent -- community to coalition under one umbrella using all of the organizations at our disposal, may it be naacp, the urban league, the c.b.c., the black church, similarly to what the jewish community has done under the umbrell ofa aipac? there is no mistake as to whether or not they are one of the most aggressive and effective lobbying bodies on capitol hill and has been able to push the policies of the jewish community very effectively. the african-american community, however, is so disjointed and so many different factions that i believe that has affected our ability to be effective policy makers. >> so the question is, is it possible to have a coalition? >> that's a great question. when i was a student at morehouse college i wrote a little paper and said how do we advance where we are as a nation and as a people?

i looked at the hispanic community, the jewish community. there is no other community that votes overwhelmingly, 90% for one party. prior to 1936 we all voted republican. that's a bad model. after that, we voted democratic. that's a bad model the what that has done for us as a people is create a system where republicans say we've got to win without them, so if somebody starts with whether it's racist or not racist, because there are racists in both parties. i used to get into that debate. i just don't any more. for every todd akin there is is a person on the left. i'm not -- about building people up, not tearing them down. do i think that statement was reflective the whole party? no, i really don't. he said something stupid. but i don't come to these

discussions trying to defend republicans nor do i come to defend democrats. icome to say here's what believe and who i support. getting back to the coalition point, if we were able to look at some model where we took 20% of the african-american community, say get engaged, go work on the hill, do the policy stuff, then another 20%, say you go join the republican party, get on their staffs. that's 40%. the rest of the 60%, you say you don't get engaged in any party. be a businessman, a mom, a teacher, do whatever. now you've got 20 pirs engaged in the democratic party at the highest level. you got your donna brazile's, your jamals here -- i forget the brother's name here. and then ub got -- get the

republican side and do the same thing. you come up with a 10-point plan and say these are the things we most care about in our community and you let the democratic colleagues take that and up present that to the governor, the mayor. you say if you agree and can do six of these things, i'm going to go back to the folks and get them to turn out. if jamal comes to me and says i'm a republican and i got my candidate to bite on six of the issues and i if i only got my democratic guy to bite on three, i'm going with the republicans. we need to have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests. until we get about the business of that instead of all this back and forth, arguing about what todd akin said -- look, i've done that for 20 years. we're in the same boat. unemployment is getting higher, more brothers and sisters are in jail. insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over

again and expecting new results. that is the definition of insanity. >> professor morris -- >> i'm not advocating for one side. i'm pro us. >> professor, you probably also remember the gary convention and other efforts in the past to try to bring african-americans under a similar tent. do you think that this is something -- >> at howard and other universities we also tried to organize policy conferences where people could articulate things for national interests. winning can sometimes be an impairment. when obama won, many of the organizations seemed to be less visible than before. the one thing to remember in response to this comment, we're the only race that the, the only race than the votes of which the republican party has

not pursued. this is nothing that can be said in the large associations that can be said to african- americans whose agenda they have responded to or are interested in. obviously it would be easy to build coalitions if the republican party wins because a lot of black people would organize. but we don't want to be just responsive. problem is some of the organizations were not as responsive as they so -- should have been after obama got into the white house. i can think of some places where we didn't demand enough. my simplest example, a little

one, comes to mind, shirley sherrod. remember that in we immediately concede to this orchestrated right-wing media -- >> can you explain who she is for people who don't know? >> the african-american secretary of agriculture who was falsely accused of making, quote, racist statements and some of the civil rights organizations joined in that accusation. i won't name them. but the point is we should take every opportunity to organize an agenda further to the left and with that, ironically, would come some of the white american left. so you have both groups that were not as well organized as they should have been. there could be a long explanation or discussion as to why but one of the reasons that african-americans switched to the democratic party in the 190 -- 1930's was that roosevelt had a progressive agenda. if that agenda looks for viable and you get over to the

republican backlog, you would get more coalitions mobilized. if you watched the testimony in congress the other day you see african-americans taking the lead in testifying in favor of medicare. once you have a feasible agenda, you will get somewhere. now we've been stuck in fighting back. >> all right. question? >> my name is cindy brown. i'm a freshman here. psychological major. i'm going to backtrack a little bit. you mentioned something about substantiating sexuality. i don't need anyone to substantiate my sexuality or who i am as a woman. i need the government to stay out of my body, out of my relationships until i get ready to get married. i don't need a scientist to tell me who i am ar -- or were i'm real or whether it's relevant to what your political standing is. i know i need a candidate who is going to fight for me in every demographic i represent. if i want a candidate that supports gay marriage, i want the government to stay out of that.

i want a candidate who represents that. i don't anybody to tell me that i am real, that i am, let's say a real woman, real lesbian or whatever. that's my business, not the government's. i just want that be -- to be clear. >> and i agree with that. i hear you speaking from your heart so i'm going to talk back to you from my heart. i don't know you but you love you as a brother regardless of what -- >> sister. >> brother, sister, regardless of what your orientation is. that's not my issue here. i apologize, i misspoke. i thought you -- i couldn't tell. but my point is, regardless of what your orientation is or what you think other people's orientation should be, you're absolutely right, that's not the government's business.

the government should be about talking love and support and respect and i believe that from the bottom of my heart. it is not fair to you to say it is the appropriate for me to be true to the bible. it is my faith. >> [inaudible] >> i said you had molecule's. you have biology. you have science. >> there are questions about police that occur. there are questions about public policy that occur. it is not a much about faith.

we have to make judgments about how we have a system that treats all citizens fairly. >> thank you very much for your statement. >>ky jump in right there? >> yeah. >> then we'll come over here. >> just to bridge that gulf just a little bit. there's broad policy statement, my colleague to my left is speaking from the heart. it's very, very simple, basic, black and white. what we need to emphasize is that when it comes to government, there is no just black and white. it is very, very circumstantial, subjective, and mistake of people who govern based upon their narrow view is that they paint things in a narrow light when most things are complex and have broad social forces that influence what happens. so whenever you try to take a sleeping policy and put it in a

narrow light, it disenfrance choices, it damages, -- disenfranchises, it damages, it's unintentionally malicious. as well intended as you may be and a lot of folks are in government, you can't paint snoose a very, very narrow, simple light. even if you're doing it in love. you have to make it as diverse and complex as it is. >> that's the problem with the debate. >> let's get to the question here. >> thank you. speaking of disenfranchisement -- >> i'm sorry, can we hear your name? >> sorry. eleanor trailer. i work here at howard. some people call me professor. so, i am just wanting to speak to disenfranchisement, to slippery slopes, to speaking from the heart and the like

manner. and i wish to address to the panel an enigma that i experience. i am perplexed. >> and that experience will end in a question, right? >> yes. this is a question. i'd like it to be addressed. how can a body of leaderly speakers, those who desire public office of any stripe, tolerate in the least the suppression of the very definition of what america has come to mean to the world? and that is the right to vote. >> so your question is about voter i.d. laws? >> i have not heard that spoken

to. >> ok. do you all think that voter i.d. laws will have an impact -- how will that play out in this election season? we'll start here. >> it will certainly have an impact. glad we're having a chance to talk about this. there have been three types of voter suppression laws that are running rampant across this country. folks should know that since the 2010 election, just about 40 states have introduced laws that would require some type of photo identification to be shown at the polls before you vote. several of those states have passed and enacted those laws. what does that mean? well, some people think, hey, know, pull out the i.d. out of your pocket. everybody has an i.d. actually it's not that simple. the devil is always in the details and what we've seen based on what the center at the new york university law school said, there are five million people who do not right now have the kind of i.d. that will satisfy one of these voter i.d. laws. who are those people? surprise, surprise,

african-americans, latinos, young voters, disabled people, people of lower income status. and it's incredibly unfortunate because the point that the professor is making is that the right to vote is one that is essential and sacred in this country. if you think about it, the constitution has been amended more times to protect or expand the right to vote than on any other issue. there are six constitutional amendments that address that point and now on our watch, after we've elected the first black president, a year after we have erected the martin luther king memorial, and 47 years after john lewis and others engaged in what we call bloody sunday, we're now watching and allowing a series of states to pass these laws that will have a direct impact on the vote that you and i and people that look like us are going to cast. so it's right to raise that point. but it's not just voter i.d. it's voter i.d. and it's also rolling back early registration. early voting periods, excuse me. so early voting.

who votes early? people that can't necessarily take off a long day of work. who votes snerl people who may need help getting to the polls. people who are in school. and african-americans. on the sunday before the last election in florida, african-americans and latinos combined were 51% of all the people that cast the vote on that day. how do you think governor rick scott and the republicans in florida responded to that? they said, no more early voting on the sunday before the election. all across the country, whether it's florida or ohio, we're seeing a large coordinated, well-funded attack on the right to vote and we shouldn't stand for it. but the problem doesn't stop there. it's not just voter i.d. it's not just cutting early voting periods. it's making it harder for people to register to vote. in 2008 83% of young people under the age of 30 that were registered got out to the polls and voted. follow me. the problem is that only 5 4%

of young -- 54% of young people are registered. so, what conclusion do you make there? if young people are registered, they'll get up on election day and they will go and vote. so what do you do about that? let's go back to florida. a critical state as we all know, a battle ground state, what did florida do? they said, we are going to put up so many barriers on third party organizations registering people to vote that basically it drives the whole process up. now for the first time in their history the league of women voters, boy scouts, rock the vote, a number of other folks have said, we're not going to register people to vote because of these laws. well, a couple months ago "the new york times" did a study and said, at this point in time there are 90,000 less new registered voters in florida than there were in 2008. jamal walked through numbers earlier about how young people can have a direct impact on this election and the trute is that we're going to see not only these voter i.d. laws but cutting early voting and voter

registration have a direct impact on whether our fellow citizens can actually get out there and exercise their right to vote. last thing let me say this, everybody has a smartphone, raise your hand. pull it out. go to your app store, i'm not getting paid to do this, trust me. whether you're on android or iphone and pull down the election protection application. get that election protection application that's supported by rock the vote and lawyers committee for civil rights, it will confirm that you're registered. it will tell you where your polling place is. it will give you a number to call if you have problems on election day and it would help you report any issues that you see. the folks around the country see that this is a big issue, it's important and we have to take that power back into our own hands. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i just want to ask one quick question. >> we have to move on. can we move on to the next question? >> oh, sorry.

>> we got a lot of questions. the panel will be here afterwards and you'll be able to ask them a follow-up. we have a question from twitter that is on that and i want to let the two student presidents get involved. is it more important for college students to vote where they go to school or to vote at home, since they go to school in a certain state for nine months out of the year? and so this is kind of a piggybacking on this question of registration. >> to the note of registration, we had that question a lot at moore house because we have a lot of students from out of state. we do this. for incoming freshmen that will spend the next four years in the state of georgia living there, we encourage them to register as georgia voters. we do not encourage our students who receive state funding, state grants and things like that to register in the state of georgia because that will then cut their funding. but for students who are planning to move or have for other reason registration back home we do encourage them to

stay in areas like swing states, states that are critical, where their vote is a lot more influential. but for incoming freshmen, sophomore, we encourage them to register to vote and they register there, vote there, everything is taken care of in house. outside of that, with the note of voter suppression, it is very real, very, very systematic. and it is troubling. we also encourage our brothers to make sure that they are calling their elected officials and being engaged and being involved in the political process. >> do you want to say what happens here at howard? do people want to vote here, in d.c., or would you encourage them to vote at home? >> we kind of left it up to the discretion of the student. seeing as we're in d.c., we're in a different kind of situation, seeing as we don't have representatives to vote for. so we have a voice for the president but we don't get to vote for congress and things of that niche -- nature. so there are students that decided that they want to

submit absentee ballots and that's fine, we've been working with our state clubs to make sure they understand the regulations and dates and deadlines so they can have those ballots submitted on time. personally i'm registered to vote in d.c. because this is my community and i felt like that's the sacrifice i decided to be to to be engaged in my community. but i think it should be left up to the student. as long as they vote, i don't really care where they're registered. >> i want to know what the professor was saying just a minute ago when she talked about who is responsible for this. i'm not going to pinpoint anybody but i want to bring you back to what we were talking about earlier. we talked earlier about how that republican party, they're not really creating african-american policies, they're not creating youth-centered policies. so we all know that to be what's happening in the status quo. now you double that to, ok, they're not making policies to benefit african-americans, latino or young people, but they're going to turn out the vote. so what do we do? maybe we pass laws that are completely and totally regressive, maybe we purge them

from the voter polls so we don't have to deal with them at all. they want to take a pencil eraser and erase a whole group of people from the voting process so they don't have to deal with them and pass policies that affect them and then we wonder why, we wonder why they're not talking to us. because not only do they not have it talk to us but they're going to make sure that we won't have an impact in how the election turns out. >> thank you. >> the young people in this crowd, what i would recommend, regardless of who you want to vote for, romney or obama, and hear me on this for a second. the tea party, some good policy, some bad policy, i think those guys got a right model. and here's why i say that. those are republicans who said, we are tired of these republican members of congress not speaking to our issues. whether you like their issues or not, they said, these are our issues, they went to republicans and they said, if you do not support these principles that we have we're going to put somebody else in office. my challenge to the young

people in this room, voter suppression, republicans are pushing it and there are democrats and democratic primaries that are pushing the same thing. it's bad. and it's being done on both sides of the aisle. >> which democrats? >> i said it's been pushing some democratic primaries. >> in the modern era? >> in general. >> i echo that sentiment. >> voter suppression is not anything new. agree or disagree, that's something that's been going on for a long time. i said in general. from the beginning of time, voter discretion, any time you do it it's wrong. but let me finish my point here. >> so conservative democrats used to do it when democrats had control. >> both sides are pushing it. >> the conservatives are the ones that typically do this. >> both sides have pushed it. and it's wrong. i'm not saying whose done it more or less. both sides have pushed it and it's wrong. >> i think you're making a good point because i do think there is an important political note

to talk to folks about organizing, believe in them or disagree with them or not, the tea party has done a phenomenal job organizing. >> hold on. >> organizing and getting the attention. i will say. this i can't sit here and allow you to make an equivalent between the role that the republican legislatures across the country have played in suppressing minorities -- >> and it's wrong. i agree with you, it's wrong. i said, in any facet it's wrong. >> i didn't want to leave it out there that it's been done on both sides and it's wrong. >> it's wrong. >> the reality is for a long time there were conservative -- conservatives who identified as democrats. over time those conservatives became republicans. they behaved the same way they just changed the title that they had. >> it's not quite that equivalent. >> they focused on voter identification discrimination. in 2006.

those presegregation efforts are just that. you can't make an equivalent there. if we wanted to imitate the tea party, we have people with billions of dollars. but that's not it. the people mobilize activity. i think that is the opportunity we need to take that can be interracial, recognizing that the assertion of democratic rights needs to be reaffirmed because it is obviously under attack by groups of people who think they can win by keeping people away from the polls. >> to add to that. i would argue like the profits professor said that if somebody paid me $1 billion to organize, i'd go organize, too. >> again, you're going to vote for president obama if you're a democrat. my only point there for the young people is, take a playbook from the civil rightings movement or from the tea party movement. don't just be a democrat and beat up republicans. i'm not just a republican beating up democrats. i'm a republican going to my

party saying, here are the things that you're not doing for my community and we try to demand those things that hold them accountable. all i'm saying is if you're going to vote for president obama or president mitt romney, once you get elected -- or if he wins he'll be president. >> we have 15 minutes left. more questions from the audience. >> hold your party accountable. >> we're going to move to the audience now. thank you. >> my name is john cox, class of 2004. i thank the panelists for their great work here today. in looking at the political landscape, it seems that relationships across the aisle are becoming more and more toxic and that there's less tendency to work together. it also seems that personal religious beliefs are more and more visible in the current political conversations and debate. i just wondered where the panel sees this having effect in the future. what do you think this is going

to do to politics down the line? and that's my question. >> as somebody that works on the hill now, i haven't been there as long as some other folks but i'll make this one observation. you're absolutely right. and if we continue in the direction that we're going now, i'm not sure how we'll ever get anything done. now, look, the problem is that during democratic administrations there's pushback from the republican side. during the republican administrations there's pushback on the democratic side. i'm going to try to make this point in a bigger sense and not be too partisan. but at the end of the day it seems as if compromise and finding a way to work together have become a bad word and a concept to be avoided. if that were the case when our great country was founded and we look at the history of our country, if compromise had been a bad word there wouldn't have been a declaration of independence, there wouldn't have been a constitution, there wouldn't have been progress on

all the issues that matter. democrats have to work with republicans and republicans have to work with democrats. i will say this, put on a little bit of a partisan hat, i have seen in the senate in particular over the last couple of years the filibuster used more times than ever before in our history. what does that mean? it means that important legislation like, you know, economic development, whether it's health care reform, whether it's judges, whether it's -- all these things that are really important have been held up. from even having the debate. from even being brought to the floor and saying, you know what? i disagree with you on this, let me have my amendments, vote it up or down, and then let's go and have a debate so the american people can see what's going on. and here's what i say. if i have a disagreement, you and i, my friend have had a couple of disagreements today. we've had a very civil conversation. i hope we can take our model and incorporate it on capitol hill. because there's no civil

conversation happening there. and it's long overdue for that to happen. >> anybody else want to get in? >> i think there's a little bit of 1984 the novel going on here with nonissues get pushed to the front. take for example this last october, congressman akin talking about legitimate rape. now, before that there wasn't an actionable issue, forcible rape, in the legislative agenda. now democrats are partly responsible for even letting it go unnoticed. they had to push it out because it wasn't actionable, it was so absurd. but nobody in the media has ever focused on it. a lot of this stuff is distracting from real policy agenda and it's almost conspiratorial. >> and paul ryan was one of the co-sponsors of that. >> is there any other -- my name is chamal and i attend howard university, middle school science and mathematics.

is there any other defense of the same-sex marriage other than religious dissent? >> can you ask one more time? [cheers and applause] >> apparently it was a really good question because it god a lot of -- got a lot of response on your crew. could you ask it one more time a little bit louder? >> is there any other dissent against same-sex marriage other than religious dissent? >> is there another dissent of same-sex marriage other than religious. against same-sex marriage? anybody? >> no. >> thank you for your question. thank you for your question. >> to the note, when it comes to the federal elections, states usually define marriage. there is no federal policy that basically define what is a marriage is. when it comes to the national debate, it's not really something that can be pulled

into -- >> the defense of marriage act. >> there's no federal -- it's not decided in congress, it's decided by general assemblies, just by the voter suppression laws that are in seven of the 10 largest african-american populations in the country. being gay is not just a federal election, not just the senate, but the general assembly. >> i think you were standing up for a long time. did you have a question? >> good afternoon. my name's taylor. i'm a 2012-2013 first aten dntdant to morehouse college. my question in the spirit of speaking from the heart, i'm asking because it genuinely did not sit well with me, the conversation that took place a couple of minutes ago regarding abortion. so could you please again explain briefly your position

on abortion? >> i have a daughter. that's 13 years old. if she got raped, i would have to pray on it and i don't know how i would deal with that. i just don't know. >> so your position is i don't know? >> if it comes to rape, i don't know dish honestly, as a dad, i don't know. if you have children -- >> so the question is -- i can amplify your question? what should the federal position be? >> oh, the federal position. >> right. >> you can't have a policy -- >> i think the federal position , from my personal perspective, on abortion, should be that should be an individual choice. i don't think the federal government should be involved in that. [applause] as a dad. i don't think the federal government should be involved in that decision. >> young lady in the red. let's hear your name and where you're from and speak up. >> my name is faith. and i'm at the howard university. and my question is directed to

professor morris. you say that you're deeply rooted in the bible. the bible shows -- my question -- oh, mr. sailor, sorry. you say that you're deeply rooted in the bible and i'm a christian as well. and i think that when you say things about somebody's sex, i think that the bible doesn't show any discrimination. so i think that didn't sit well with me at all and i wanted you to clear up that on what you mean. >> there are three verses in the bible, i don't want to cite them all here, that speak specifically to homosexuality. and afterwards catch me and i can pull them up and you can read them. it doesn't talk about discrimination of love, it speaks to a man lusting after a woman or a man lusting after a man or a woman lusting after a woman. the bible is clear on homosexuality.

the bible's not ambiguous on that. it's very clear. i'm not talking about discrimination or love, i'm just saying that act, it's very clear on that. >> elroy's going to lead bible study here in the corner after the discussion. >> feel free to come down here. >> ma'am in the black shirt. >> hello, everybody. my name is crystal. i'm a senior legal communications major from detroit, michigan. i also serve as the president of the naacp and. we engage in political involvement. >> speak a little slower and louder. >> ok, i'll start over. my name is crystal. i'm a senior legal communications major hailing from the great city of detroit, michigan, and on campus i serve as the president of our naacp and i'm a staff assistant for impact. my question is for anyone that wants to address this question. so you kind of spoke about the

consistency of just african-americans being active in the political process and things of that nature. and we make that almost sound like an issue of our generation when that's an issue of every generation. so i wanted to know, besides just kind of saying how active we aren't in the process, how can we kind of keep people active all year round? >> what we've done actively with the programs, coming out of -- >> hold on for a second. can the folks who are leaving try to keep it down? thank you. >> we recently had a conference a couple of months ago called nasap. it's the national -- i forget the acronym. but it's a conference for student leaders. and we got about 35 presidents in queens and we came together out of nasap and built a coalition and we now have an h.b.c. unified national voter registration drive where all h.b.c. youths are working

together to get their campuses registered. the thing about it is we are doing this in concert, working under the radar so we haven't done press releases and talked to big news organizations because we're not interested in having the publicity. we're interested in getting the job done. and there are some great leaders all the way from texas down to florida all the way up north to lincoln who always are literally on a text message away from each other who work together for registration, issues of lobbying, issues of city levels and state levels. and this type of coordination is happening but it has to happen in a greater sense, outside of s.g.a.'s, into those n.g.o.'s. the work is happening. make no mistake about it. >> i think he's right. on top of the work that we can do on voter registration, one issue that i've sort of been trying to ralph in my oun own mind is why is that we've seen all the other groups, besides two groups, we've seen latinos, when president obama was elected, they came to washington with an agenda.

the lgbt community came to washington with an agenda. and they pushed their agenda. but when it comes to the youth movement, when it comes to african-americans, when president obama got elected, we put our hope and change posters in our bedripserooms and we're like, yeah, we won, and we sat down. and we had no agenda. so people are saying the president didn't do enough for african-americans but where was the people saying, this is what we want you to do? we want you to do x, we want you to do z, we want you to do y. i think, one, we re-elect him in 70 days. on day 71 what we need to do as a community, both as young people as well as african-americans, is we need to sit down and come up with a collective agenda and we need to take our agenda to washington. just like mrs. chisholm goes to washington. we need to have a fight with anybody who's going to get in the way of our agenda. that's what we saw the hispanic community do and one community that i novel at was the lgbt

community. they came with an agenda. if you got in their way, they ran commercials, they ran commercials in your district, they sent out mail in your district. they did everything possible to show that you are an enemy to them and people fell in line. nobody said anything. because we all know that the politicians that we deal with, they're affected by polls. they're affected by public opinion. so if we are that public that provides that opinion, then we need to have an agenda so our opinion can be educated. >> very good. so we are at the end of our program. thank you all for being here. thank you for this great audience. [applause] thank you to the great panel. and i want to thank howard university for being great hosts not only of this event but also of this entire weekend . you make us all feel very welcome when we're here on the campus. you always did, even when i was 19 and hanging out in the yard. thank you all for having us back. [captioning performed by

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> we're asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's c-span student cam video documentary competition. in a short video, students will answer the question, what's the most important issue the president should consider in 2013? for a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. 's and there's $50,000 in total prizes available. c-span's student cam video competition is open to students grade six through 12. for complete details and rules go online to studentcam.org. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney was in the battle ground state of ohio for a campaign rally in cincinnati. he talked about president obama's inability to create jobs and his own plan for moving the economy forward. other speakers included ohio senator rob portman, house speaker john boehner and ann romney. this half-hour event was held at the city's national historic landmark union terminal.

>> thank you. folks, we need josh mandel in the united states senate. send him there. [applause] what a terrific crowd. so, cincinnati, what about those red legs? [applause] last night the team that has won the most games in baseball won again with a home run by jay bruce. bruce! i see another world series title coming to cincinnati, folks. [applause] and here's what else i see. with a home run by mitt romney and the republican convention, i see the romney-ryan team going all the way to the white house! [cheers and applause] with your help and, folks, we

need them and we need them now, we're living through the worst economic recovery since the great depression. over 8% unemployment. for the double digit unemployment. african-americans, hispanics. president obama said he would fix the economy he has not done it. he has failed. we cannot afford another four years. we cannot afford more of the same. we are fortunate because we have the candidates who has the record and policy and can turn america around. he has a terrific spouse in ann

romney. didn't she do an amazing job? it was an amazing home run. what mitt romney is in the white house, and his best partner will be john boehner. while the democrats have failed, john boehner passed irresponsible budget to get the deficit under control. he did. he also passed over 30 pro- growth jobs bill that the democrats have blocked. folks, help is on the way. please welcome john boehner.

>> welcome. ohio has a great ohio's senator in rob portman. he has been my friend for about five years. she has done a great job on behalf of cincinnati. keep up the great job. republicans were lucky enough to win the majority. we promised the american people that it would not be about us. it to be about the american people.

that is why for 18 straight months we have focused on the economy and jobs every single day. we have done all this could work in the house, denmark people have access to do. harry reid has blocked everything we have set over there. this is why it is really important that we sent him back to nevada. the president made a lot of promises. my voice is a little craftily because five days of the convention, my boys is about gone. i am here today because this is a very serious time.

elections have consequences. four years ago the president elected barack obama. there is a belief that things would change. that he would change this. he is not get any of his promises. one and a plum at one not exceed 400%. finding people have lost their jobs. it is time for america to stand up and reclaim power to the country.

mitt romney is one of the most sincere in even the most to walk the face of the earth. he has a record of creating jobs from one coast to another. he has a record of balancing budgets and fixing problems in his own state of massachusetts. he is the person he will keep his promises to the american people. he is the person you will fix our economy. here is the guy that will send barack obama back to chicago. ladies and gentleman, mitt romney.

thank you so very much. what a welcome, cincinnati. thank you so much. [applause] i was asked why it was we made cincinnati our first stop after becoming the nominee, our first political stop. i think you gave them the answer this morning. thank you. i brought with me a special person who lit up the convention and is going to light

up america, my sweetheart, anne romney. [applause] >> wow. that is an unbelievable recession. we are so grateful for all of you coming out. i know why you are doing it. it is not just for us. you are doing it for the country. [applause] you all have figured it out. you know this is an important election. we have been across this country and we have seen so many families and individuals that are hurting, that are looking for hope and looking for help. guess what? help is on the way. [cheers and applause]

i had a chance to talk a little bit about this guy that i love at the convention. i wanted to talk from my heart. i hope you felt that it was so much from my heart. [cheers and applause] i believe in america and i believe in this man. i know he can get it right for us, so thank you all very much. [cheers and applause] >> getting ready for my convention speech, i read some speeches from some other people who spoke at conventions. i actually also read the inaugural speeches from some of our great presidents and heroes

from my life. one of the speeches i read was the convention speech of barack obama. he was not one of the ones i wanted to draw from, but i could not resist some of the things he said. he made a lot of promises. and i notice he did not keep a lot of promises. one of the promises he made was that he was going to create a lot of jobs. today, 23 million people are out of work or have stopped looking for work. if you have a coach in your record is 0, it is time to get a new coach. [cheers and applause] it is time for america to see a winning season again and we are going to bring it to them. now he famously said that he was going to slow the rise of the oceans. and he was going to heal the

planet. our promise to you is this, we are going to help the american people and healthy families of america. [cheers and applause] this is a great state. you have a great governor, by the way. john kasich has done a terrific job. and he is showing the president, if the president would only look, how it is you can bring more jobs back to a state. he has made ohio more business- friendly. he has held down taxes. he has balanced budgets. paul ryan and i have a plan that is going to get america working again. [cheers and applause] it will create 460,000 jobs right here in ohio. five things we will do.

five things that will get this economy going again. by the way, i need josh mandel in the senate to make that happen. of course, rob portman will be there. those five things, number 1, get america energy independence. he is our oil, our coal, our gas, how our renewables. number 2, late trade work for us. we will open markets and we will -- make markets work for us. we will crackdown on cheaters. number 3, we will make sure our workers have the skills they need to succeed and our kids have the skills they need in the 21st century. a lot of schools are not doing the job they need to do. i want to make sure we put our key its first and the teachers first and the teachers' union behind -- our kids first and our

teachers first and the teachers' union behind. number 4, you are not going to get entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in ohio and invest in other states in america and put their life savings to work here unless they know we are not headed to be placed greece or spain or italy or those places that have had such trauma overseas. to make sure that is not the case, we will finally do something republicans have spoken of for a long time. we did not do it. i will cut the deficit and get us on track for a balanced budget. [cheers and applause] [applause]

number five, i want to champion small business. i want to make it easier to grow and build businesses because that is where most of our jobs come from. [applause] instead of doing what the president says he wants to do, which is raising taxes on our best small businesses, i want to bring them down.

i want regulators to understand their job is to encourage small business. i want to take the big cloud off of small business keeping them from hiring people. i want to get rid of obamacare and replace it with something to hold down the cost of health care. [applause] mitt! [cheers and applause] we recognize with a great responsibility you have given us, how much you expect from us to get back the white house and get america back on track. we have seen a lot of disappointment, a lot of families having hard times.

i saw a report this morning that even as some jobs have been created, they note the jobs we lost were middle income jobs. the jobs we're getting back our low-wage jobs. people in this country are having hard times. the average income in america, the median income has dropped by $4,000 a family, even as the price of gasoline and food are up. these are tough times for the american people. added to that, and the divisiveness and bitterness we have seen from the president's campaign. america is a story of the many becoming one and accomplishing extraordinary things because of our unity. i thought today of the great heroism, patriotism, courage of one of ohio's best, neil armstrong. what a champion. [applause]

the courage and character of that one man, combined with the unity of so many that came together to help achieve a great accomplishment, it is a model for our nation. i will do everything in my power to bring us together because united, american build the strongest economy in the history of the earth. united, we put neil armstrong on the moon. united, we faced down unspeakable darkness. united, our men and women in uniform continue to defend freedom today. i love those people that serve our great nation. [cheers and applause] this is a time for us to come together as a nation. we do not have to have the kind

of divisiveness, bitterness, and recrimination we have seen over the last four years. i will bring us together and put in place the five steps are described. america will come roaring back. a better future is ahead. it is waiting for us. our families deserve it. our children demand it. the peace of the planet depends upon it. i love america. we're taking this country back. we will get america strong again. we're doing it for your children, the future. god bless the united states of america. god bless the great people of ohio. thank you so much. thank you. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> ♪ i was born free [applause] ♪ ♪ i was born free

♪ waiting for the sun to set when it is done, believe that i will yell it from the mountain high i was born free, i was born free i was born free i will celebrate god's grace on me i was born free, i was born free ♪

♪ ♪ [playing "born free" by kid rock]

[playing "it's america" by rodney atkins]

[playing "it's america" by rodney atkins]

[playing "this is our time" by kenny chesney]

[playing "this is our time" by kenny chesney] >> coverage of the democratic convention starts next week.

featured speakers tonight include the san antonio mayor and first lady michelle obama. wednesday, elizabeth warren and former president bill clinton. thursday, the vice president in joe biden and president barack obama. >> we offer our people a new choice based on old values. we offer opportunity. we demand responsibility. we will build an american community again. the choice we offer is not conservative or liberal. in many ways it is not republican or democratic. it is different. it is new. it will work. >> connect with other c-span viewers with twitter and google.

>> a lot of the shows i like watching an are anything that is happening now. i'm looking for things that are the supreme court rulings, the fallout from that, anything that is raw and unfiltered. lot to worry about talking heads. >> c-span, created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your television provider. >> the los angeles mayor produce the commission that begins tuesday in charlotte, north carolina and talks about the campaign issues. "newsmakers" at 10:00 a.m. and

6:00 p.m. eastern here on c- span. >> president obama was in iowa for a couple of campaign rallies. his first stop was a few miles west of des moines. also about this past week's republican convention. he spoke for about 25 minutes and knocked the kickoff of his road to charlotte fotour. [applause] >> hello, iowa! [applause] oh, it is good to be back in iowa! [applause] >> we love you, mr. president! >> i love you back. that's why i'm back. [applause]

oh, this is a great crowd. it's good to see my outstanding friends -- tom harkin in the house. [applause] leonard boswell. [applause] tom miller. [applause] and can everybody please give lucas a big round of applause -- not just for the introduction, but for his service to our country. [applause] and it is great to see all of you. [applause] we've got a spectacular day. college football is in the air. [applause] we will try to get you home in time to see the hawkeyes and the cyclones. i know we've got kickoff later. [laughter]

and although you guys got to see the nationals and chris cornell perform before i got here -- (applause) -- i just want you to know that i could not appreciate them performing -- i could not appreciate more them performing for us. so please give them a big round of applause as well. [applause] now, iowa, this is our first stop on the road to our convention in charlotte, north carolina. [applause] but there was a reason for me to begin the journey right here in iowa, where it first began more than four years ago. [applause] because it was you, iowa, who kept us going when the pundits were writing us off.

it was in your living rooms and backyards and vfw halls and diners where our movement for change began. and it will be you, iowa, who choose the path we take from here. [applause] now, last week, the other party gave you their pitch at the convention down in florida. >> booo -- >> don't boo -- vote. [applause] it was something to behold. despite all the challenges that we face in this new century, what they offered over those three days was more often than not an agenda that was better suited for the last century.

it was a rerun. we'd seen it before. you might as well have watched it on a black-and-white tv. [laughter] if you didn't dvr it, let me recap it for you. [laughter] everything is bad, it's obama's fault -- (laughter) -- and governor romney is the only one who knows the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy. that was the pitch. there was a lot of talk about hard truths and bold choices, but nobody ever actually bothered to tell you what they were. (laughter.) [applause] and when governor romney had his chance to let you in on his secret, he did not offer a

single new idea, just retreads of the same old policies that have been sticking it to the middle class for years. they talked a lot about me. they talked a lot about him. but they didn't say much about you. [applause] and they spent even less time talking about what they planned to do -- not just because they know you won't like it, but because you've lived through it and you can't afford to repeat it. [applause] see, it turns out that we don't think making the middle class pay for another budget-busting $250,000 tax cut for folks making $3 million a year or more will magically translate into jobs and prosperity for everybody else.

we don't think families will be better off if we undo financial reforms that are there to prevent another financial crisis, or rules that are there to protect our air and our water, protections to make sure your health care is there for you when you get sick. [applause] we really don't think the best way to strengthen medicare is to give seniors a voucher that leaves them to pay any additional costs out of their own pockets. iowa, they have tried to sell us these tired, trickle-down, you're-on-your-own policies before. they did not work. they've never worked. they won't create jobs. they won't cut our deficit. they will not strengthen our middle class. they are not a plan to move our country forward. [applause]

we believe in something better. we believe in an america that says our economic strength has never come from the top down. it comes from the bottom up. [applause] it comes from the middle out. it comes from students and workers and small business owners, and a growing, thriving middle class. that's what we believe. [applause] we believe in an america that doesn't let how much money you've got determine whether or not you can afford good health care or get a higher education. [applause] we believe in an america that leads not just by the force of our military, but also with the strength of our ideals and the power of our example. [applause] we believe in an america where no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, you can pursue your own happiness and

you can make it if you try. [applause] >> four more years! four more years! four more years! >> that's what the last four years have been about, iowa. and that's what this campaign is about. and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. [applause] now, this thursday night, i will offer you what i believe is a better path forward -- a path that grows this economy, creates more good jobs, strengthens the middle class.

and the good news is you get to choose which path we take. we can take their path or we can take the path that i'm going to present. [applause] we can choose whether we give massive new tax cuts to folks who've already made it, or whether we keep the tax cuts for every american who's still trying to make it. [applause] i have cut taxes by a total of about $3,600 for the typical family. [applause] and i'm now running to make sure that taxes aren't raised a dime on your family's first $250,000 of income. [applause] that's the path forward. but you're going to have to choose it. it will be up to you. you can choose whether we cede new jobs and new industries to countries like china and india

or germany, or whether we fight for those jobs in states like iowa. [applause] my opponent's experience -- he likes to talk about it -- has been investing in companies that often were called "pioneers" in the business of outsourcing jobs. and when his advice was to "let detroit go bankrupt," i said a million jobs were at stake, an iconic american industry is at stake -- i'm going to bet on american workers and american manufacturing. [applause] and today, the american auto industry has come roaring back. [applause] that's the choice. unlike my opponent, i want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas. i want to start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in urbandale and des moines, right here in iowa, right here in the united states of america.

[applause] that's what we're fighting for. you can decide whether "borrow money from your parents" is an acceptable answer for a young person hoping to go to college or start a business. >> booo -- >> or you can say let's make sure america once again leads the world in educating our kids and training our workers. [applause] let's help more young people go to college ready to learn. teacherse more great -- [applause] -- especially in math and science. [applause] let's help more americans go to community colleges to get the skills for the jobs they need right now. [applause] governor romney wants to end the college tax credit we created that's saving families up to $10,000 over four years in tuition.

i want to extend it. [applause] in america, higher education can't be a luxury. it is an economic necessity and something everybody should be able to afford. that's what we're fighting for. [applause] iowa, you can choose an energy plan written by and for the big oil companies, or you can choose an all-of-the above energy strategy for america. [applause] at a time when homegrown energy is creating new jobs right here in iowa, when farmers are helping to create new biofuels, when once-shuttered factories are churning out new wind turbines -- (applause) -- my opponent wants to end tax credits for wind energy producers. he said new sources of energy like these are "imaginary."

his running mate calls them a "fad." nearly 7,000 jobs in this state depend on the wind industry. these jobs aren't a fad -- they are the future. [applause] and i think it's time to stop giving $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies each year to big oil companies that are making money every time you go to the pump. [applause] let's give some of that money to homegrown energy sources like wind that have never been more promising. that's the choice in this election. that's what we're fighting for. [applause] it's up to you whether we go back to a health care system that let insurance companies decide who to cover and when -- >> booo -- >> -- or whether we keep moving forward with the new health care law that's already cutting costs and covering more people and saving lives. [applause]

now is not the time to refight the battles of the past four years. now is the time to move forward. [applause] this november, you get to decide the future of this war in afghanistan. governor romney had nothing to say about afghanistan last week, let alone offer a plan for the 33,000 troops who will have come home from the war by the end of this month. [applause] he said ending the war in iraq was "tragic." i said we'd end that war -- and we did. [applause] i said we'd take out bin laden -- and we did. [applause] >> u-s-a! u-s-a! u-s-a!

>> today, all of our troops are out of iraq. we are bringing them home from afghanistan. and as long as i'm commander- in-chief, we will serve our veterans as well as they served us -- [applause] -- veterans like lucas, who got his education thanks to the post- 9/11 gi bill -- because nobody who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or an education or a roof over their heads when they come home. [applause] that's what's at stake in this election. on issue after issue, iowa, governor romney and congressman ryan will take us backwards. but the story of america is about moving forward. to soon you'll get a chance choose a path that will actually lead to a better future. but over the next two months,

the other side will spend more money than we have ever seen on ads that basically tell you the same thing they told you at the convention -- the economy is not doing good and it's obama's fault. [laughter] they know their economic plan isn't popular. go figure that raising taxes on middle class families to pay for new tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires doesn't go over that well. >> booo -- >> so that's not what they're going to talk about. they're counting on the fact that you get so discouraged by these negative ads, that you decide your vote doesn't matter. can't decide that you compete with $10 million checks from wealthy donors. somethingng on different. i'm counting on you. [applause] and i need your help.

first and foremost, i need you to go to gottaregister.com to make sure that you are registered to vote. now, this is gottaregister -- i'm sorry, any english teachers who are in the room -- (laughter) -- it's not "got to," it is "gotta" -- g-o-t-t-a register.com. thennce you're registered, you got to go to gottavote.com. [applause] that's g-o-t-t-a vote.com -- to find out how to cast your ballot early. because in iowa, you don't have to wait until november 6th to vote. you can be among the first to vote in this election, starting september 27th. [applause] that's gottaregister.com; gottavote.com, because we got a lot more work to do. we "gotta" lot more work to do. (laughter.) we've got more good jobs to

create. [applause] we've got more homegrown energy to generate. [applause] we've got more young people to send to college. [applause] we've got more good teachers to hire. [applause] and we've got more good schools to build. [applause] we've got more troops we've got to bring home. [applause] we've got more veterans we've got to take care of. [applause] we've got more doors of opportunity to open to every single american who's willing to work hard and walk through them. we've come too far to turn back now. [applause] that's why i'm asking for a second term, iowa. and if you're willing to stand with me, and join with me and knock on some doors with me, and make some phone calls with me, and if you're willing to vote for me in november -- we will win polk county again. [applause] we will win iowa again. [applause] we will win this election. [applause] we will finish what we started. and we will remind the world just why it is that the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth.

[applause] god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

["we take care of our own" by bruce springsteen]

["learn to live" by darius rucker]

>> a four more years! four more years!

>> during the conventions, we're using social media in all sorts of ways to take you closer to the conventions and get you a behind-the-scenes look. using twitter, we will see what delegates are tweeting and what other c-span viewers are tweeting about the convention. on facebook, we are sharing images, at infographics, as well as all the major speeches. we are taking a reaction and reaction from delegates, and on google+, we are having conversations with delegates. all of this will be featured at c-span's convention hub on c- span.org/campaign2012. >> visit our convention have to create and share your videos, discussed the convention, and find out what others are saying on facebook and twitter. >> i can only surmise -- you know, in the movie, we rattle a

lot of cages. i grab my cameraman and can -- pretend to be a reporter. i have to escort the security council back to the airport, and i finagle my way onto the you in buses. the security council seem pretty uptight. 99 bottles of beer on the wall 99 bottles of beer ♪ come on, nobody? i was told there were u.n. peacekeepers who were killed. >> the french, at the beginning of the crisis and here -- we had these ex-belligerence fighting each other. >> it sounds to me like he is dodging the question. i walked out of my apartment, the upper west side of manhattan, they're comfortable place to live. nothing generally exciting

happens there . came out, and i was greeted by a man who was waiting, very nicely dressed -- you know, nice, well- made soup, waiting for me outside my apartment. he asked if i was ami horowitz. my spidey since started telling a little bit, and i said i was, and he asked if the movie was more important than my family. >> what is an investment banker make a movie about human waste, mismanagement, and crimes committed? find out on sunday at 8:00 on c- span's "q&a." >> tomorrow, robert christensen, chief political reporter for the "news and observer" of raleigh, north carolina, with a preview of this week's democratic convention. susan roberts exhibit -- examine the political dynamics of north carolina heading into the november election, and democratic delegate brian butler, president of lgbt democrats of north carolina,

discusses gay and lesbian